The present disclosure relates to craft used in water sports, and more particularly, to a connector system for watercraft used in surf style water sports.
Surf style water sports have been practiced and refined since ancient Polynesians began riding waves long before contact with European explorers. A variety of contemporary water sports utilize a multitude of different boards, watercraft and methods of propulsion to ride on and over the water. For example, surfing, stand-up paddleboarding, windsurfing, kitesurfing, and wakeboarding, each utilizes a different style of board to traverse the water and waves.
Despite variability between the boards used in the various water sports disciplines, all boards for use in surf-style water sports utilize fins of various sizes and shapes to aid in steering. Traditional methods of attaching fins to surf-style water sports boards require various combinations of epoxy and fiberglass cloth to permanently secure the fins to the base. Removable fin systems give greater flexibility to change the fins based on the rider's skill-level and weather conditions.
In an exemplary type of removable fin system, a fin fixing element is inserted into the polystyrene core of the board during fabrication and the fin is releasably secured thereto. One commercially available example of a fin fixing element comprises a longitudinally extending box, defining a cavity running substantially the entire length of the box. An alternate configuration for a removable fin system comprises a plurality of fin-fixing elements each sized to releasably secure one of a plurality of structures projecting from a single fin.
The speed and maneuverability of traditional surf-style water sports boards are hampered by the drag that the bottom of the board produces while travelling across the water surface. A great amount of force (whether wind, wave, or mechanically generated) is not transferred into forward motion because of the negative effects of drag. Mounting a hydrofoil to the bottom surface of a surf-style water sports board universally reduces drag and allows the rider to attain higher speeds than with traditional on-surface boards. An example of a hydrofoil adapted for use in a kitesurfing board is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 7,926,437.
Despite the increasing popularity of surf-style water sports and the increase in speed that a hydrofoil confers, the cost of surf-style boards having hydrofoils is prohibitive. In addition to the price of the high-end materials used to construct the hydrofoil, most hydrofoils are permanently secured to the bottom surface of the board. Consequently, a rider seeking to use a hydrofoil in different conditions or across different disciplines of surf-style water sports must purchase multiple hydrofoil boards.
Accordingly there is a need for a cost-effective surf-style water sports board having a hydrofoil.